Dutch bank, ING, announced plans today to eliminate 7,000 jobs and replace CEO Michel Tilmant with supervisory board Chairman, Jan Hommen. The financial services company hopes to cut 1 billion Euros in operating expenses this year. The firm posted a second quarterly loss in the fourth quarter and is already receiving aid from the Dutch government, but it is working to restructure its balance sheet to reduce risk and equity exposure. The layoffs constitute about five and half percent of ING's total workforce.
See "ING Cuts Jobs, Replaces Chief Executive, After Loss", Martijn van der Starre and Jurjen van de Pol, Bloomberg News, January 25, 2009